“Shoot the tubes” has been a battle cry for Crystal River kayakers for decades. But this will be the last summer for the relatively benign adventure, the result of another unglamorous project taken on by an organization that gets little credit for its blue collar approach to conservation.
That organization’s name is the Conservation Resource Alliance (CRA). You likely didn’t know.
To be fair, the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians has shared responsibility for a project to dig out three undersized, rusting culverts that usher the Crystal River from one side of County Road 675 to the other. In their place, a handsome, wooden bridge will be built that allows the river to flow unimpeded under the road, which will help native fish populations move freely through a waterway connecting Glen Lake to Lake Michigan.
